Thursday, October 13, 2005

Here is a commentary I threw into a list serve study of James I am involved in. I figure I should get any writing I do up here (since I write so little).

I am new to the group, so I don’t know if what I have to say will be skipping ahead of where you are, or trailing behind.Thanks for letting me in on this study. James and Romans are pillars of my theology. I became a Christian at 14 and started Bible Quizzing shortly thereafter. My first year of quizzing was on Romans and James, so my foundation was established by those two books. Looking back, I see that it was a great course in Christianity 101.

Quizzers around America are doing Romans and James again this year (done every 9 years now) and I have decided to do it with them from afar. So getting in on a James discussion will help keep me on track.

Not sure if there is an order, so if there is, let me know. For now tho, I am going to comment on 2:13 – because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

It seems that this is a fairly strong concept that runs throughout scripture – forgive, and you will be forgiven, with the measure you use it will be measured to you, judge not so as not to fall under judgment, at whatever point you judge the other you are condemning yourself because you who pass judgment do the same things. The list goes on.

I keep letting that thought spin thru my head. If I am not merciful, I will be judged without mercy. I WILL be judged without mercy. Not maybe, there are no outs listed in these scriptures. There is a one-for-one correlation.

I think I may have been trained by some of my Christian culture to by-pass these scriptures… almost as if they did not apply in my case. I think I almost add an unconscious addendum… it reads like this: – because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful; (unless you have accepted Jesus Christ as you personal Lord and Savior).

But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins; (unless you have accepted Jesus Christ as you personal Lord and Savior).

As I have become older in my Christianity, I find myself viewing my salvation less like an event and more like a becoming. Verses like this (without the addendum) do not stress me or put me under undue pressure, but rather they remind of how seriously Christ takes this issue and how much he wants us to imitate the Father.